16: Restrepo / Danska

1 April, 2017 - 22:15
Sphinx cinema

 

 

SELECTION 2017

A dialogue between new audiovisual works, older or rediscovered films and videos by artists and filmmakers who work in the expanded field of moving image practice.

_______________

 

In the presence of Camilo Restrepo.

 

Cilaos

Camilo Restrepo
,
CO, FR
,
2016
,
DCP
,
13'

“My urge to make Cilaos came from my encounter with the Reunionese singer Christine Salem. Although I knew nothing whatsoever about the culture of Reunion Island, I was struck by its resemblance to the culture of Colombia, where I grew up. The stories about Reunion Island that I learned from Christine echoed the South American stories and legends of my childhood. It was really striking to see the extent to which two such geographically distant regions of the world continue to share, through their common colonial past, the myths, beliefs and rhythms of the African peoples who were brought there. With Cilaos, I wanted to explore this shared heritage, and to show the resonances that exist between the Reunionese and South American cultures.” (Camilo Restrepo)

A woman takes her mother’s dying wish to the father she never knew; he is dead but not gone from the Réunion Islands village of Cilaos, historically a Maroon community. With the collaboration of renowned singer Christine Salem, Restrepo develops a trans-diasporic narrative form between the dead and the living built on the mesmerising slave rhythms of Réunionese maloya and Colombian mapalé.

Right On!

Herbert Danska
,
US
,
1970
,
35mm
,
78'

Described as “a conspiracy of ritual, street theatre, soul music and cinema”, Right On! is a pioneering concert film, a compelling record of radical Black sentiment in 1960s America, and a precursor of the hip-hop revolution in musical culture. Shot guerilla-style on the streets and rooftops of lower Manhattan, it features the original Last Poets performing 28 numbers adapted from their legendary ‘Concept-East Poetry’ appearance at New York’s Paperback Theatre in 1969. Opening almost simultaneously with Melvin Van Peebles’s Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Right On! was described by its producer as “the first totally black film”, making “no concession in language and symbolism to white audiences”.